Michael Mendelsohn - President
As President of Union Patriot Capital, Inc, Mr. Michael Mendelsohn currently manages senior and mezzanine debt portfolios for banks and financial institutions specializing in entertainment, sports and media finance. He also provides strategic advice for corporate clients and talent-based entertainment businesses as well as provide sourcing to strategic investors and principal capital for media related technology companies. Mr. Mendelsohn is a lead advisor in negotiating content library acquisitions and valuations, and the sale and acquisition of entertainment properties for international television conglomerates. During his career, Mr. Mendelsohn has structured and placed over $1.8 billion in senior debt for such banks as, BNP Paribas (media and entertainment), Citibank (entertainment), Union Bank of California (entertainment) and JPMorgan (sports), and has arranged production financing or foreign distribution and co-production deals for such entertainment companies Lakeshore Entertainment (Paramount), Beacon Communications (Universal Pictures), Icon Productions (Paramount), and Franchise Pictures (Warner Bros.) In addition, Mr. Mendelsohn advises corporate clients in areas of acquisition of entertainment properties, film production finance, international distribution, corporate sponsored programming, foreign television and satellite broadcasters, international co-production funds, theatre chains, commercial and music video production and digital post-production businesses, as well as advising corporate and high net worth clients on purchase and finance of sports franchises and regional sports networks.
As Chief Advisor and Loan Portfolio Manager to the Paribas Group Entertainment and Finance Department from 1995 to 2000, Mr. Mendelsohn advised, managed and syndicated a loan portfolio of over $900 million in Los Angeles for project financing of feature films, international media activities and co-financings with other media banks. He provided merger and acquisition expertise for European broadcasters and film distributors, film libraries, and other entertainment financings through loans and equity investments. Film projects include Andrew Niccol's "Lord of War" starring Nicolas Cage and Ethan Hawke; George Romero's "Holy Cross"; Beacon Pictures and Wolfgang Peterson's "Air Force One," starring Harrison Ford, distributed by Sony; Lakeshore Entertainment produced "The Mothman Prophecies," starring Richard Gere; "The Matrix," starring Keanu Reeves; Icon Pictures produced "What Women Want," starring Mel Gibson and Helen Hunt, distributed by Paramount Pictures; "The Gift," starring Cate Blanchett and Keanu Reeves, produced by Lakeshore Entertainment and distributed by Paramount Pictures; "End of Days," starring Arnold Schwarzenegger; "Sleepy Hollow," starring Johnny Depp, produced by Mandalay; "Battlefield Earth," starring John Travolta, produced by Franchise; "The Hurricane;" starring Denzel Washington; "The Next Best Thing," starring Madonna and Rupert Everett; "Arlington Road," starring Tim Robbins and Jeff Bridges. Mr. Mendelsohn structured and managed off-balance sheet film production financing for major studios including Paramount, Universal, Fox, Time/Warner and MGM and Disney as well as syndicating deals with several US-based and international financial institutions.
Serving as the Founder and Group Vice President of the Entertainment Group of Banque Paribas from 1990 to 1995, Mr. Mendelsohn's responsibilities included managing the Entertainment Finance Group loan portfolio, advising Paribas internationally in film library acquisitions, broadcast output deals with major studios and packaging of creative and financial elements for film and television companies. He also structured and financed over 54 movies with production budgets totaling over $495 million dollars including Quentin Tarantino's "Reservoir Dogs", “Red Rock West" starring Nicolas Cage and Dennis Hopper, Samuel Goldwyn Jr's "Madness of King George", "Nobody's Fool" starring Paul Newman, and Tony Scott's "True Romance." He also provided advisory services for major international media clients such as Luxembourg based CLT, television broadcaster RTL stations (Germany), Polygram (UK), STAR TV (Hong Kong), NTT Telcom (Japan), and UGC (France).
While at Union Bank of California, Mr. Mendelsohn was a Vice President within the Entertainment and Media Finance Group from 1985 to 1990 where he analyzed, structured and negotiated film-financing packages for television mini-series, MOW's, series, music videos and feature film production. Mr. Mendelsohn focused on foreign co-productions, borrowing base facilities, on and off balance sheet financing, and equity-debt capitalization's for companies organized around creative talent such as Castlerock and Largo. Mr. Mendelsohn also advised international entertainment clients in co-production and foreign distribution of film rights. Clients included Carlo Ponti and Sophia Loren, Akira Kurosawa (Japan), Silvio Berlusconi's Reta Italia Television (Italy) and Richard Branson's Virgin Group (UK).
A graduate of The University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, Mr. Mendelsohn studied Economics with a major in Finance and Entrepreneurial Management and minor in English and Russian Literature. He often lectures at his alma mater, as well as AFI, Harvard, NYU, UCLA and USC. Mr. Mendelsohn resides in Los Angeles, California and is on the Los Angeles Board of Directors of the United States Holocaust Museum, Friends of The Israel Defense Forces, Variety Children's Lifeline, and C.O.A.C.H. for Kids at Cedars Sinai Hospital.
Ufuk Sevinc - Managing Director, European Operations
Mr. Ufuk Sevinc recently served as the International Brand Manager/Consultant for the Maybach car division of Mercedes Benz. He concurrently provides international consulting and advisory services for other entertainment companies, banks and venture capital funds throughout Europe and the Middle East. Mr. Sevinc worked as Head of Acquisitions and Co-financing for RTL Television, helping it grow into one of Europe’s most powerful broadcast networks. He also served as Head of International Co-production and Co-financing for ProSieben. Mr. Sevinc founded the Film Rights Acquisition Division of Cinemedia AG, where he helped acquire such blockbuster titles as “What Women Want,” starring Mel Gibson and Helen Hunt. He has opened major business relationships with clients in the United Kingdom, Germany, Turkey and Saudi Arabia. His extensive network of contacts expand the globe from the United States through Europe and the Middle East.
Glen Harvey -
Coming Soon!
Marcelo Gomez - Co-Founder Aerospace Division / General Partner Entertainment Division
Mr. Marcelo Gomez is currently the CEO of The Iceberg Group, an international consulting and private investment Company. Mr. Gomez provides international consulting and advisory services for aerospace, real estate, entertainment and venture capital firms throughout the U.S., Mexico and Latin America.
Mr. Gomez Co-Founded Aerospace & Defense Technologies together with Union Patriot Capital. He has established key business relationships with various military, security and corporate aviation companies throughout the world. Mr. Gomez currently negotiated exclusive rights to distribute TAV military vehicles in Mexico, Latin America and The Middle East.
For the past 14 years Mr. Gomez has been involved with business development, creating strategic partnerships, business management, fundraising, and critical problem solving.
Mr. Gomez is native to Los Angeles, California and during his free time enjoys playing basketball, mountain biking, and hiking. Mr. Gomez currently resides in Irvine, California